Former Down Under Lawmaker Imprisoned for Above Five Years for Criminal Acts
A former lawmaker convicted of assaulting two individuals connected through professional activities received a sentence to nearly six years in jail.
Trial Information
Gareth Ward, forty-four, has been in custody since mid-year after a jury determined his guilt of sexually assaulting one man and attacking another individual, in separate incidents in 2013 then 2015.
Ward acted for the seaside community of the district in the state legislature from over a decade ago. He stepped down as a government cabinet member when accusations came to light in 2021 but declined to leave parliament and won again in 2023.
Sentencing Details
Judge Kara Shead took into account Ward's disability of legal blindness in the judgment and found "no alternative punishment besides imprisonment is appropriate".
The convicted individual, who appeared via remote connection at Parramatta District Court, will undergo at minimum three years and nine months in prison before he can apply for conditional freedom.
The court official declared the judicial system needs to "deliver a strong warning to similar individuals that sexual offendings such as this will be subject to serious punishments".
Additional Information
The judge added the convicted man had "avoided punishment for ten years and lived freely absent a treatment or punishment for his crimes during that period".
Post-trial, the politician launched a unsuccessful appeal attempt to stay in parliament and stepped down moments before the legislature could expel him.
Representatives has stated earlier he plans to challenge the guilty verdict.
Trial Evidence
The defendant's extended court case in the NSW District Court learned that he brought a drunk teenager to his residence in 2013 and sexually abused him repeatedly, despite the victim's efforts to oppose.
In 2015, he raped a 24-year-old government employee at his home after a function at parliament.
Ward had maintained the 2015 rape was fabricated, and that the additional accuser was misremembering their encounter from 2013.
However, prosecutors argued that striking similarities in the statements of the victims, who did not know one another, showed they were being honest.
A jury debated for three days before announcing the guilty verdicts.
Ward's resignation led to a replacement vote in Kiama in last fall, which was won by the opposition party.
